Palace: Napoles claim vs Drilon over P5-M donation must be probed

Janet Lim Napoles. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

The latest exposé of alleged pork barrel mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles against Sen. Franklin Drilon should be investigated, Malacañang said Monday.

In Saturday’s interview with broadcaster Erwin Tulfo which some parts were aired Monday on PTV-4, Napoles claimed she gave a campaign donation to Drilon amounting to P5 million during the 2010 elections.

“Kilala niya (Drilon) po ako at sa katunayan po nagbigay po ako ng donations nung election, nung tumakbo po siya nung 2010 elections,” Napoles told Tulfo.

(Drilon knows me and I even gave donations during the election, when he ran in the 2010 elections.)

Asked how much she gave to Drilon, Napoles said P5 million.

Napoles is currently detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig for plunder charges in relation to the alleged misuse of lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

Tulfo claimed Drilon did not declare this in his statement of contributions and expenditures (SOCE) submitted to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Sought for comment on Napoles’ latest expose, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said it must be investigated.

“Leave it to the DOJ (Department of Justice) but there should be an investigation,” he said in a text message.

“Let the process of accountability begin,” he added.

As of posting time, the whole interview with Napoles, which Tulfo said was around 30 minutes, has yet to be aired on PTV-4.

In a statement sent to INQUIRER.net, Drilon denied receiving any donation from Napoles.

“We deny having received any campaign contribution from Napoles. We have submitted our Statements of Contributions and Expenditures, which are open for public scrutiny,” he said.

“We will not further comment on such obviously fake news intended to harass the opposition,” he added. With a report from Pathricia Ann V. Roxas/je